Aeon Social Link: Redux
by KazuyaYamura
Summary: [Discontinued] My own take at the Aeon Social Link. Minato x Aigis. Will include both friend and lover routes. Will not be told in chronological order!
1. A Friendship is Born

Author's Note: Hey guys! KazuyaYamura here! This is my 3rd attempt writing a fanfic (I re-wrote my first one.) and my 1st time writing a pure romance story. This is a Minato x Aigis fanfic, cause they're my favourite pairing! I was kinda disappointed that Minato x Aigis doesn't have that many fanfics, so I decided to write this! I got inspiration from Memories of You and All Alone With You by ReachingOutFES and Gin Nanashi. (I hope they don't mind that I'm emulating their style (although it will not be **exactly** the same)... if they do, I will take down this fanfic... Their stories are awesome by the way...) This story is an 'improved' version of the Aeon Social Link. I hope you guys enjoy it! (My romance writing isn't that good, so spare me.)

* * *

8th January 2010

* * *

**After School**

**Classroom**

_**Aigis POV**_

_I cannot understand this... I am usually able to fully concentrate on the lesson... But for some reason... I am easily swayed by many things nowadays... I should check for any irregularities when I get back to the dorm..._

I stood up and prepared to leave the classroom, however, I noticed that Minato-san was still sleeping with his clip-on headphones. Yukari-san and Junpei-san had already left the classroom. However, there are still many students who have not left. I can only assume that they wish to 'chat' with each other a bit more before leaving. My thoughts went back to Minato-san and I decided to wake him up. Since he sat beside me, I simply shook him lightly to wake him.

"Minato-san, please wake up. Class is dismissed," I said.

Minato-san slowly sat up and blinked his eyes lazily. He took of his clip-on headphones and turned to face me, "Oh, Ai-chan? Thanks for waking me up. I owe you one."

"There is no need Minato-san. I do not require any favours."

"Don't say that, Ai-chan. You're one of us, remember? If you need anything, just tell me, okay?" said Minato-san.

At that moment, I felt unusually... happy when Minato-san said that. As Minato-san stood up and prepared to leave the classroom, I found myself following him and saying, "Wait, Minato-san! You said that if I needed anything, I could ask you, am I correct?"

Minato-san nodded his head calmly and I continued, "I know that this sounds sudden but could you please show me around Paulownia Mall."

"Haven't you been there before, Ai-chan?"

_I was feeling another emotion now... it was... uneasy..._

"Do you have other plans Minato-san...?" I asked.

"Nope, I don't. Sorry if it sounded like I didn't have time for you. I was just asking since I thought that maybe Yukari-chan or Fuuka-chan had brought you there before and you might want to go somewhere else," he replied.

_That uneasy feeling was now gone... replaced by a cheerful one..._

"Well, I have been to Paulownia Mall before, but that was quite some time ago; before my... emotions started to develop," I continued.

_Could that be the cause of my inability to concentrate...?_

"Is that so? In that case, let's go," said Minato-san and the both of us made our way to Paulownia Mall.

* * *

**Paulownia Mall**

_**Aigis POV**_

As we arrived in Paulownia Mall, Minato-san and I engaged in another conversation.

"So, Ai-chan, you had a place in mind?"

"No, I do not. I was hoping that maybe you could show me around all the shops and we could 'hang out', if that is the correct term."

Minato-san chuckled slightly before he continued, "That's the right term, Aigis. Anyway, why don't we start with Chagall Café?"

The both of us entered Chagall Café and sat down at an empty table. The café was rather empty, so we didn't have any trouble finding a place to sit. We sat at a small table not too far from the window. Minato-san looked at the menu and it seemed as though he has decided on what to eat.

"So, Ai-chan, what do you want to have? Or wait... can you even eat?" asked Minato-san.

"Well, my upgrades were rather extensive during my time away. Mitsuru-san requested that I be given replacements to emulate 'real' human senses along with an improvement to my Papillon Heart. So, in essence, I should be able to do so," I replied.

"Mitsuru-senpai really did that? Hmm, since this is your first time tasting something, would you mind if I chose something for you?"

"I do not mind, Minato-san."

A waitress approached us shortly and took our orders. She then went off soon after.

"Minato-san, do you come here often?" I asked.

"It depends. When I just need to relax, I usually come here. Either that, or I'm doing a part-time job," he replied.

"Minato-san, are you okay with spending time with me...?"

"What do you mean, Ai-chan?"

"What I'm saying is that, wouldn't you rather spend time with Junpei-san, Yukari-san and Fuuka-san?"

"Ai-chan, you're our friend. You're irreplaceable. Why wouldn't I spend time with you?"

At that moment, our drinks arrived. Our conversation stopped rather abruptly, but we simply started to enjoy the Pheromone Coffee.

_Friends... I have them now, don't I? Minato-san... thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate you and the others..._

"Ai-chan, is there something on your mind? You look like you're spacing out-"

"No, I'm fine, Minato-san; just pondering something," I said.

"Alright then, I'll leave it at that."

After we finished, Minato-san paid the bill, without letting me pay a single yen, and we made our way back to the dorm since it was getting late.

* * *

**Route to the Dorm**

_**Minato POV**_

We walked side by side; Ai-chan on the left and myself on the right.

_The sunset looks beautiful... This was a pretty good day after all..._

Aigis was smiling and had a slight hop to her step as we made our way down the street.

_She has absolutely no idea how cute she looks, doesn't she? But then again, it may be better this way. If she did, she'd probably find out about her little fan club at school. Apparently she's both popular with the guys and the girls... Okay, maybe 'little' wasn't too accurate; '99% of the student body' would be better..._

"Minato-san..."

"Yeah?"

"Umm, I know this might be early but..."

"But...?"

"Are you free tomorrow?"

"You wanna go somewhere, Ai-chan?"

"Yes. And this time, I have a place in mind."

"Where's that?"

"... You'll find out..." she said with a slight blush.

_I can't wait._

Thou hast forged a new bond.  
Thou shalt be blessed when creating personas of the Aeon arcana.

* * *

Author's Note: So, what do you guys think? Please review! (The chapters will get longer as the fanfic progresses. This is intentional.)

Update: Made the chapter slightly longer. Not many ideas for the earlier ranks. (Rank 8-10 are complete.) I hope you guys can remain patient until I *eventually* write Chapter 2. In the meantime, you can read Persona 4 Arena: Extend, which will be updated frequently.


	2. An Aeon Valentine (Part 1)

Author's Note: Due to some unforeseen circumstances, this story will **not **be told in chronological order. This is the 2nd last chapter for the lover's route. I know... it's weird... but honestly, I have writer's block. FYI, this fanfic was originally planned to be a one-shot, as you can see below.

* * *

14 February 2010

* * *

**After School**

**Entrance of Gekkoukan**

_**Minato POV**_

_I can't believe that so much time had already passed... I wonder if I can hold on to my life any longer... I am weakening... my life will soon disappear... Argh, enough negative thoughts! _

I shivered slightly and a cool mist flowed from my mouth as I exhaled the frigid air. Winter was going to end soon, but that doesn't mean that the temperature had gotten any warmer. _Well, at least it isn't as hot as summer... it's pretty humid here, so the heat gets unbearable sometimes... _

_It has been a month and a half since I defeated Nyx. Ever since then, memories of the past year began to disappear from the minds of SEES. It didn't really bother me and I simply tried to act as normal as possible and avoid bringing up anything Persona-related. I wouldn't want them to suddenly remember everything, do I? They deserve to have a break from all that madness. However, what bothered me the most was Aigis. There was no doubt that she still remembers everything. She has been trying to avoid me and all the other SEES members... Maybe she's thinking the same thing as me? Most likely._

I looked at my phone and checked the date before I realised that it was... _Valentine's Day!? Heh, even if it is, it's not like I have anyone to actually spend it with... __Although I had many admirers, I had turned them all down... with one exception._

It was then that I caught a glimpse of that ever-familiar blonde-hair not too far away from me. _Of course, it had to be __Aigis... __Honestly, __I feel sorry for her... after all, she did confess her feelings to me, and I even accepted her... and here I am, not even thinking about my girlfriend on Valentine's __Day. We had always hung out after school ever since she came back from the lab not too long ago. We simply enjoyed any time spent with each other. We could sit side by side on the school roof in complete silence, yet, to us, it would be one of the most enjoyable things in the world._

Knowing this, I quickly ran to catch up with Aigis, hoping to spend some time with her to make up for the month of silence between us. Attempting to catch up to her, however, proved to be more difficult than I had previously thought. As I approached her, she turned around and ran away after seeing me. I broke into an all out sprint as I tried to follow her in vain. She was faster than me, by a long shot.

After a while, my legs began to ache and I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. My vision started to blur and my hearing started to weaken. _My body is really weakening, isn't it? _Before I could take another step, I suddenly felt a sharp pain throughout my entire body and collapsed onto the white blanket of snow. I lay there in agonising pain as I tried to get back up. Before I passed out, the last thing I saw was a faded face looking over me.

* * *

_The blood. The horror. The pain. I could only see blurred images, yet, I managed to find them. They were lying on the ground, unmoving. I shook them, trying to wake them from their never-ending sleep. There was blood, but it felt cold. Not a single drop of life. My face felt wet and my eyes were far more than watery. I stopped trying to wake them. They won't wake up, no matter what I do. The sounds were deafening. Gunfire and incomprehensible words were invading my ears. Everything was messed up. To think, that only a few seconds ago, I was sleeping soundly while listening to my favourite music in my family car. Now, everything had become pure chaos. I could see a white humanoid object, but, at the same time, it wasn't alive. It was fighting a monster who sucked the life out of me. I saw the humanoid object summon more monsters, but, I was not afraid. This new being gave me strength, gave me life. My body started to glow, and so did the bad monster's, and it disappeared. Yet, I could feel it. It was still here, yet, it was not. Where was it? I saw my saviour mouth out a few words, but I could not hear anything. I only saw her lips say, "I'm sorry."_

…

_The ocean. So vast, so wide, so full of mystery. It was a sight to behold. I walked across the sandy floor, following the figure of a capped boy as he ran from one to another. My silver-haired senpai was in front of me, rolling his eyes at the capped boy. I thought of their antics as silly, although I didn't show it. As I saw the capped boy's anguished face, I suppressed my laughter and looked towards the open sea. It was then that I saw her. Her short blonde hair flowing in the sea breeze, her bright azure eyes, full of life. Her aqua blue dress which made her look as mysterious and as beautiful as the ocean. Yet, it felt nostalgic when I saw her. As though her very image was imprinted in the back of my memory. It felt... so familiar, yet, different. As I approached her, I was sure that I had seen her. I was positive. That voice, that hair, those eyes, I had seen her before. Either way, she was still the most delicate and innocent thing I had ever seen._

…

_We held each other tightly. Tears of joy were flowing from her eyes. She could not believe what she had heard. But I was sure, there was no other way that I could have said it. She said those three words, and I had replied her the same. We enjoyed each other's embrace as the sun set in the distance. The moment was perfect. There were no words to describe it. It was impossible. It felt so right. We were alone, but we had each other. Not a thing in the world mattered. As long as we had each other, we would be happy, we would be the two happiest people on Earth._

_..._

* * *

"M...to...n! Mi...to...san! Minato-san!" yelled a voice. I blinked my eyes and looked for the source of that sweet voice. My vision was blurry but it slowly started to focus themselves and I found myself lying down on a bed... and I found Aigis looking right at me. I shot up and looked around. I was in my bedroom and it was still in the afternoon. As to how I got here, there was no doubt that Aigis had something to do with that...

"You are finally awake. I was getting worried. Why did you exert yourself, Minato-san!?" asked Aigis, concern written all over her face.

I slowly recalled the events that lead me here. After thinking for a moment, I answered, "In that case, why did you run from me?"

Aigis hesitated for a moment and stood up from my bed. She looked guilty and diverted her eyes from me. After an uneasy silence, she decided to tell me, "I-I did not know what to do. I did not want to disturb you from your normal life, Minato-san. Yet, at the same time... it felt wrong to run away from you... You were always right by my side... and you never left me..."

Listening to Aigis' story, I told the mechanical maiden to take a seat beside me. "Aigis, you didn't have to isolate yourself. You worried me too, you know?" I said,

"I am sorry, Minato-san... I did not think about how you would react to my actions... I was rather selfish..." she paused before continuing, "Now, if you will excuse me, I will leave you to recover-"

"Aigis, stay here. I'm starting to feel better and I would prefer to have you by my side," I said, interrupting her.

Aigis sat back down and I put my arm around her shoulder. Her metallic skin somehow made me more relaxed as I wrapped my arms around her. Aigis' face started to turn red, but she didn't resist. She leaned towards me and rested her head on my shoulders. Her head was heavy, but it did not matter to me, she was Aigis, my friend. No, my love.

"Aigis, it's still quite early, you want to go somewhere today? It's Valentine's Day, after all," I said.

"Minato-san... why would you want to spend this day with me...? I doubt that nobody sent you any invitations to spend this day with them..." said Aigis.

Thinking back, I remember the many invitations from various people to hang out after school. I declined all of them on the spot.

"Aigis, I may have received many invitations, but I never received the one I wanted most," I said.

Aigis' face turned even redder and she replied, "Umm... Minato-san... I do not have a phone... and I am not built to send and receive messages."

I could not help but chuckle at Aigis' innocence.

"Then, I have a present for you. Close your eyes," I whispered into her ear.

She closed her eyes as tightly as possible. She looked so cute when she was trying not to look at what I wanted to give her. I put my 'present' into her metallic hands and told her to open her eyes.

"... Minato-san... a mobile phone...? Umm... I do not know what to say..." said Aigis, a disappointed look on her face.

"That's not your present, Aigis. It's just a cellphone I bought for you. I can't believe you fell for that," I said, trying to contain my laughter.

The phone I bought was the latest model. It featured a slide-open keypad, instead of a flip-open one. And it also had a touchscreen as an added bonus. I also added a little cellphone strap with some chibi-style animé characters on it for a finishing touch.

"Minato-san! You're so mean! You made me disappointed for nothing!" exclaimed Aigis, who was now pouting as she held her new cellphone.

_Sigh, she looks so cute when she does that... I'm probably the only human in this world that has ever seen her pout, and I'm definitely not complaining..._

"You do know that it's actually customary for women to give men presents on Valentine's Day, don't you?" I teased.

"I-I knew that! I even got something for you... or are you doing this to get away with not giving me a present?" she replied.

"Of course I'm going to give you a present, Aigis. I was just teasing you," I said.

Aigis continued to pout before saying, "Minato-san! I actually thought that you were serious!"

I struggled to contain my laughter as I saw Aigis' expression of embarrassment. When I finally managed to calm down I continued, "You know Aigis, your emotions have been showing themselves more and more recently. Especially when we're alone."

The look on Aigis' face was priceless. She looked like she was going to die of embarrassment.

"M-Minato-san! Stop teasing me! I may show my emotions more when I am around you but the same goes with you! You're usually not this playful if anyone else is around!" she shouted.

I pulled her closer and whispered, "... But that's why we love each other, isn't it?"

Aigis sighed and said, "If only the other members of SEES knew how playful you were..."

There was an uneasy silence following Aigis' comment. The other members of SEES... They don't even remember anything... They don't even remember all the hardships we fought against... and all the times we spent together... Yakushima... Kyoto... Even the final days before we faced Nyx... all gone...

"I am sorry, Minato-san... I did not mean to bring up such a thing..." apologised Aigis.

"No worries Aigis... I think that we all knew the consequences of erasing the Dark Hour and Tartarus... there was no doubt that our memories were going to be erased as well. Their memories anyway..." I said.

"Minato-san, do you think that the rest of SEES will ever remember us?" asked Aigis.

I paused for a moment before replying, "They will. Without a doubt."

Aigis started to smile and I could not help but smile back. Her smile was one of the most sweet and innocent I have ever seen and I could not help but take in the image of her face and remember it forever.

"Minato-san, did you have any place that you wanted to go to?" asked Aigis.

"Well, not exactly. I just wanted to spend some time with you. Why don't we just walk around Iwatodai and Port Island? It's better than staying in the dorm all afternoon," I suggested.

"Alright, Minato-san," replied Aigis.

Since the both of us were fine with wearing our school uniforms, Aigis went back to her room to put back her stuff and I just got ready to spend time with her.

_Now that I think about it, Aigis and I have never actually gone out on an actual date before, huh? Well, I guess it's better late then never._

After putting my stuff down, I went out of my room and headed to the Lounge. The heater was already turned up to the max, yet, I still felt a chill run down my spine. I decided to grab some hot drinks from the kitchen as I waited for Aigis to return. After about five minutes of waiting, Aigis finally came down the steps and stepped into the Lounge.

_Wow... I suddenly remember how beautiful she looks in a school uniform. I am pretty lucky to sit beside her, aren't I?_

I stood up and bowed as she approached me. I could hear her suppressed giggles as she watched me. I took her hand and we walked out of the dorm.

* * *

**Outside Iwatodai Dorm**

_**Aigis POV**_

_Watching Minato-san act like that as we went out wanted to make me burst out laughing. Minato-san always knew what to do to cheer me up. Always. I must have taken quite some time to get down. Well, I have been rather nervous about going out with Minato-san on Valentine's Day. It was then that I realised that this was actually the first time that we went out together on a... date._

My cheeks felt warm as I walked hand in hand with Minato-san. Minato-san must have noticed it as I could see a faint smile forming on his lips. That just made me blush harder.

_Minato-san... he always told me that I was more than a machine, that I was a friend. That day, on the roof, I was so unsure of what to do. I had invited him there, I was ready to tell him, but I was scared. Scared that he would reject me. When I spent time with him, I was almost sure that he felt the same way. The signs were there, but at that moment, I remembered that he was kind to everyone. I was no exception. What if he just saw me as a friend? Would this moment ruin our friendship forever? All these negative thoughts were present in me as I wanted to tell him the truth. Although he kept a calm demeanor, I could sense that his muscles were rather tense. Minato-san was getting impatient. And so, I told him those three words that could possibly ruin our friendship forever, or would make us inseparable. I opened my mouth and said them..., "I love you."_

* * *

Author's Note: This isn't exactly the best way to tell a story but... whatever... Please be patient though, cause it takes time for some scenes to come to mind. I will focus more on updating my other fanfic, 'Persona 4 Arena: Extend' more than this one... so yeah... Part 2... or any other chapter... coming up soon!


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